


When you most expect it.

by time_tells_truth



Category: Supernatural, destiel - Fandom
Genre: M/M, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-03
Updated: 2017-09-01
Packaged: 2018-09-14 14:22:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9185864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/time_tells_truth/pseuds/time_tells_truth
Summary: They’re on a job in a town. So far all the people who went missing went to a couples group organized by the local community centre. Since the case  is quite urgent they won’t have time to re-make the fake FBI badges that got lost at the last case. This means they’ll have to improvise.





	1. Let's find a case.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi,
> 
> This is the first Fic I've ever written so I'm sorry if it's the worst ever.  
> I'm posting what I have now and if even 1 person wants to read more I'll try to write it all the way :)  
> (update, started working on chapter three so we'll see)

‘Okay so there’s this case not that far away, all of these people went missing but there haven’t been any signs of struggle, some of the witnesses say they were walking right behind the person sometimes even talking to them. And then when they looked away for just a second the person was just gone’ Sam said whilst walking into the kitchen where his brother was sitting  
‘I mean we can go there Sammy, but we don’t have any badges. We’ll have to find a cover’ Dean said whilst Castiel walked into the room.  
‘hey, Dean’  
‘Oh hi Cass, what’s up?’  
‘Are you guys going on a new hunt?’ Castiel asked.  
‘Yes, yes we’re probably gonna go look at these missing people not far from the bunker’  
Dean answered him whilst keeping his eyes at him. Is that weird? He thought. Does he make this kind of eye contact with everyone?  
‘Should I join?’ Castiel asked hesitantly.  
‘Sure you can join Cass, you did great last time. But you don’t have to if you’re not feeling it.’  
‘But Dean, I got all the fake badges lost and almost crashed your car.’ Castiel said as he was wondering why they would even want him to join again.  
‘You did what you had to do Cass, those badges aren’t more important than your life. It’s fine okay, we’d like you to join.’ Dean said.  
‘Actually you might come in very handy for our cover up, but let’s just get there first’ Sam said ending the weird conversation between his brother and Castiel that was more eye contact than talking.  
By now he was used to it. that seems to be how they talk.

So they slept for an impressing 6 hours, then got up and packed their stuff and drove off to the village. Although it was what they had called nearby it was still a 2 and a half hour drive they didn’t want to ride twice a day for maybe up to a week. Which is why they planned on just renting a motel room until the job was either done or turned out not to be a job or at least, not for them. 

-Salida Colorado-  
‘We should’ve done a little extra research before actually driving down here and wasting money on this motel’ Dean said whilst they sat in the motel room all on their laptops researching the case. They had bought one for Castiel too as he no longer had his angel powers to search for clues.  
‘Like we care about the money, we don’t even actually have it’ Sam looked serious but that had more to do with focus than actually being mad at Dean.  
‘Okay, okay. You got something yet?’ Dean answered getting rid of the subject.  
‘I think I found something?’ Castiel said with hesitation, he didn’t want to disappoint them with something useless but this seemed like something, a connection between all the missing people so far.  
‘Really?’ Sam said with excitement both for him and Castiel as he knew the former angel wanted to really help them. ‘What is it?’  
‘Well, so far all of these victims seemed to have gone to meetings or parties you could say. All of these have been organized by the local community centre. All with the same name.’ Castiel answered whilst scanning over the text for the details.  
‘What was the theme of those parties? Or what are they called?’ Dean asked.  
‘The theme I cannot find but the title is “Loving forever”’ Castiel said whilst giving his questioning head tilt trying to figure out what that name refers to.  
Dean and Sam both smiled rather than laughed at that name. So cheesy and loving forever had probably meant something along the lines of ‘a divorce looks bad’.  
‘Let me see that’ Dean said whilst walking over to Castiel and sort of claiming his laptop.  
‘Ah I see, it is a couples party only and is meant to “bring up the spark” allowing you to meet other couples and that kinda sad stuff’ He said whilst reading and searching for more information.  
‘I do not understand Dean, why is love sad to you?’ Cas asked slightly worried at Dean’s statement.  
‘Oh Cass I don’t think love is sad, but the people there are probably not in love. If their relationship was going so well they wouldn’t need a community centre party to “bring back a spark”’ Dean explained.  
‘So if a spark went away you wouldn’t try to find it?’ Castiel asked him whilst trying to make eye contact with Dean.  
‘Well, I mean yes but I dunno Cass most of these people just keep pretending it’s there and that’s not gonna fix it. Sometimes they just grow apart I guess.’ He answered whilst replying to Castiel’s attempt at making eye contact. Dean still didn’t know why Castiel did that, or even more so why he caught himself doing that. Why he even made eye contact or why it lasted so long yet it wasn’t weird but it still kind of was. 

 

It had been some time again since one of them spoke, all of them either doing further research or figuring out how to get more information on the community centre.  
‘I found the community centre’s phone number, should I call them about the couples activities?’  
Castiel asked.  
‘Yeah sure Cass, you need any help with the questions?’ Sam said whilst looking up from his laptop to give Castiel a small smile.  
‘No I think I am capable of doing this myself, however I will stay in the room may you want to ask further questions.’ The angel answered whilst grabbing Dean’s phone from the table the man was working on. He dialed the number very carefully, making sure he made no mistakes before calling the number and waiting for a response.  
‘Hello! this is community centre Bowie how may I help you?’ A friendly voice answered from the other side of the line.  
‘Hello, I would like to get more information about the “loving forever” event the centre has been organizing.’ He calmly answered.  
‘Oh yes, it has been a success! It’s not really an event it’s more of a party. Some of the new people in this town haven’t gone around and socialized and for couples to socialize together is always an easier start. What would you like to know about the party? You are always welcome to come to our next one.’ The voice answered with enthusiasm.  
‘Could you tell me about the events that go down at these parties, what kind of couples are usually seen there?’ he asked with a lack of enthusiasm. The woman didn’t seem to notice or care as she went on with her story. Telling him more about the party trying to interest him.  
‘These parties are very varied, last year we had a Halloween themed one but this year we plan on more of a Christmas theme. The couples that visit these parties vary a lot. All ages, backgrounds and orientations.’ The last sentence came out more carefully, as though she was scared that Castiel was afraid he wasn’t allowed to be there. However Castiel panicked about something completely different. What was he going to say now? He couldn’t think of any questions so he went with ‘Could me and my partner join your upcoming party?’  
This raised both Sam and Dean’s head in surprise.  
‘Yes why don’t you and your-’ she paused a little at that sentence clearly not being sure whether he was with a woman or a man (little did she know he had no one. Not yet at least.) ‘- partner come visit this week? We have application forms and you’ll be able to taste the sphere.’ She finished.  
‘Yes, you can expect us this week. Goodbye’ And with that Castiel ended the phone call. ‘What did I just do’ he said immediately after he hung up, noticing both of the brothers were staring at him.  
‘I think you and your partner are gonna go to a couples party except, you don’t have a partner’ Sam said knowing Castiel knew that but just wanting to kind of rub it in.  
‘Well we still need to go there so we better find a partner’ Dean said.  
‘Yeah maybe we can find a female hunter who happens to be nearby?’ Sam replied trying to come up with an idea.

Dean and Sam kept on talking trying to get a good idea. Castiel seemed to have zoned out even though it would be him going in there. After a while he suddenly spoke up. ‘But if we find a partner for me who is not in on this case I might miss some crucial details. How come neither of you pretend to be my partner?’  
‘Well I’m not gay Cas’ Dean quickly said sounding kind of offended or hurt that Castiel even thought of that.  
‘I mean me neither Dean but that’s not what this is about, it’s just a cover up not like the real deal.’ Sam said.  
‘But we still gotta sell the part, we can’t just act like FBI agents when we’re supposed to be a couple.’  
Dean replied to him.  
‘Well you two fight like a married couple all the time I don’t think it’ll be that hard to sell the part’ Sam answered snickering but also knowing it had been true. He also knew they weren’t going to admit it was true. ‘Hey!’ Dean replied whilst giving Sam a stomp to his shoulder. His reaction just made Sam unable to hold his laughter which only pissed Dean of some more. ‘But I mean fine okay, we’ll do it won’t we Cass?’ Dean said after a while. He looked over to Cass with a soft look on his face wanting to let the angel know he meant it. ‘Are you sure Dean? You do not have to do this if it makes you feel uncomfortable. We can find someone else to help me cover up too’ Castiel still hesitated, not wanting to make Dean do something he was very defensive about.  
‘No, no it’s fine really. We won’t find someone else before tomorrow. Let’s just do this.’ Dean replied not wanting to sound like he wanted to do this but also assuring Castiel that he was okay with doing it this way.  
‘Okay, Dean’ Castiel replied.

They decided it would be best if Castiel and Dean went into town asking around about the missing people. Sam stayed in the motel doing whatever there was to do. Probably looking for a way to make new badges and looking further into the town. 

The new supposed to be couple walked to the town as the motel wasn’t far outside of the town. It was January which meant it was very cold. As they walked outside they first came a across a boring strip of concrete but soon found their way to this park that had a pretty river flowing alongside. Since it had snowed the trees looked white and pretty yet there was barely anyone around since it was a regular working day. After a long walk in the park, striking up only two conversations with towns people they decided it was time to get some place warm. They found this little café right outside of the park and went in for some coffee and a warm snack. Or to be more specific some warm pie.  
‘we should’ve known nobody was gonna be here right now’ Dean said whilst sitting down at a booth.  
‘Yes but we should not be concerned as tomorrow is a Saturday which means many people will go outside enjoying the view.’ Castiel answered him. ‘Gives us perfect time to get you a warmer coat. It’s winter, Cass and people get cold and sick when they don’t wear coats.’ Dean said. Then a waiter came up to them. ‘may I take your order?’ she asked. ‘Yes I would like some eggnog, actually make that two he’ll have it too. And then we’d like 2 slices of pie, I’d like cherry and he’d like-‘ Dean quit talking letting Castiel decide which flavour he’d get. ‘I would like the apple pie please’ Castiel decided. Then the waiter walked back into the kitchen again. ‘Dean, what is eggnog?’ Castiel asked.  
‘Oh it’s a Christmas drink, it’s real good. And if you don’t like it we’ll get you something else.’ Dean said. After that they waited for their drinks and pie. Having a little chatter about the town and their previous case, their order finally arrived (it had only been 10 minutes but Dean had a hard time waiting when he knew what was coming to him). ‘One Cherry pie?’ ‘Yes, yes that’s for me’ Dean said whilst pointing his finger in the air and having a little goofy smile just being very happy to eat some warm fresh pie as they were always a little better than the store bought ones. ‘Than this one would be for you’ The waitress said whilst sitting down the apple pie in front of Castiel. Castiel just nodded at her with a polite smile as she finished putting down the drinks. Dean had already started eating his pie but stopped after taking a sip and seeing Castiel was going to take a sip too. ‘C’mon go for it!’ He said being kind of giddy about the good food and excitement for Castiel’s reaction. Castiel took a sip, not yet informed on it being alcoholic. However that hadn’t been much of a shock factor after being human with the Winchesters for some time. ‘This is actually delicious’ Castiel said before taking two more big gulps of the drink. Dean smiled at that returning to his pie. ‘Dean would you like to taste my apple pie too?’ Castiel asked. ‘Mhhm that sounds great Cass.’ Before Dean could grab a bite with his own fork it was already on Castiel’s fork and heading towards his mouth. When Dean looked at him a bit puzzled he said ‘We need to look like a couple don’t we? This is something a couple would do right?’ ‘Oh yes that’s true yeah, sure.’ Dean said whilst taking the bite and looking Castiel in his eyes. Which there wasn’t need for, nor for the feeding. No one knew them in this town or was paying attention to them. That didn’t stop him from asking Castiel if he wanted a bite too. It also didn’t stop him from having a weird grin on his face whilst feeding him. And out of all this the weirdest thing was that it wasn’t weird. The rest of their meal was silent except for the occasional appreciating groan. The silence made Dean zone off into his own mind. ‘Good thing Sammy isn’t here. Would’ve just made it really awkward.’ He thought. 

 

‘No that looks ridiculous on you, especially with the trench coat sticking from underneath. C’mere.’ Dean said after Castiel but on another weird winter coat. None of them seemed to fit him. Castiel was way too soft and detailed for these big bulky winter coats. Dean helped Castiel get of the winter coat and his own trench coat. ‘Okay try this one on now’ Dean said whilst handing him the other coat. This one was more elegant. A black long coat. Wasn’t as warm as the other coats which is why he kept it for last. He noticed Castiel’s little shivers whilst walking through the park. Noticed Castiel’s relieve when they walked into the warm café. He wanted him to get the warmest coat but he would just look ridiculous. ‘I quite like this one Dean.’ Castiel said when he put it on. ‘Yeah, looks nice. Is it warm though? It’s still a winter coat it should keep you warm.’ Dean replied to him. ‘Yes it is warmer than it seems on first glance. It seems to be water proof as well.’ Castiel said, clearly being keen on the coat. ‘Let’s get it then. You need anything else? We’re here anyways.’ Dean asked. ‘No, just the coat’ Castiel said with a smile on his face. 

 

‘Hey Cass, nice coat.’ Sam said when they entered the motel room. ‘Thank you’ Castiel replied clearly being happy he had noticed. ‘Yeah we’ll need to go back to the park tomorrow, there wasn’t really anyone around. But there was this store nearby the café we ate so we decided to get Cass here a new coat.’ Dean said whilst clapping Castiel on the back when mentioning his name.  
‘Yes the café was really nice. I had some eggnog that I really liked. And we shared some pie.’ Castiel said to Sam.  
‘Sounds like a fun first date, doesn’t it.’ Sam replied knowing Castiel wouldn’t pick up on the undertone of it.  
‘I guess it does Sam, but then I am not familiar with going on dates.’ Castiel replied.  
‘Oh we also went and got some dinner’ Dean said whilst holding up the white plastic bag.  
They sat down at the motel dinner table and all got their food. Chatted about the case and some random subjects that came up. After they were done they were all too tired to go for another beer and just slowly headed to bed one by one. ‘Wait how are we gonna split the beds?’ Dean asked right after he realized they hadn’t discussed it yet. ‘Well you too are the couple so you just share’ Sam said quickly. ‘You know what, fine. I’m too tired to argue you right now.’ Dean said whilst getting into the two persons bed. He quickly found Castiel sleeping on the other side of the bed. Being closer to him as when he was in another bed. But he wasn’t weirdly close either. 

As Dean woke up the next day opening his eyes, the first thing he saw was Castiel. The other man was still sleeping on his tummy and his face squashed into his pillow. ‘What time is it?’ Dean thought before turning over and getting his phone to check the time. ‘it’s 7:30 I should wake Cass up.’’ Sam was already gone, probably on his way too healthy morning run. Dean turned back around and gave Castiel a little shove. However there was no movement following that. ‘Hey Cass, c’mon. Wake up buddy’ he said whilst poking him some more. Slowly but surely Castiel started to show movement followed with a groan. ‘Hey Cass, wake up.’ Dean said softly. ‘Good morning Dean’ Castiel said before stretching out like a lazy cat. ‘Hey, good morning buddy.’ Dean said whilst ruffling Castiel’s hair softly. ‘Did you sleep well?’ he then asked. ‘Yes I did Dean, did you have a good night’s rest?’ Castiel asked him in return. ‘Yeah, this is quite a nice bed for a motel room. Were you gonna shower this morning?’ Dean asked. ‘No, I showered yesterday evening so there is no need for me to shower now.’ Castiel answered him. ‘Well that’s great because we can just secretly sleep until Sammy gets back. We’ll just pretend my alarm didn’t go off.’ Dean said with a mischievous smile. He then let his head rest on the pillow again and felt the movements of Castiel doing the same. ‘Dean’ He then heard Castiel say. He opened his eyes to be met with Castiel’s sleepy, yet intense gaze. ‘Are we not supposed to work on the case whilst Sam is gone?’ Castiel finished his sentence once he had gotten Dean’s attention. ‘Buddy, his morning walk isn’t really helping the case either, so don’t feel bad about it. Besides we don’t get that much sleep, especially not while we’re on a hunt. So be glad and take a nap.’ Dean said reassuring before giving him a securing smile and closing his eyes again relaxing into his pillow.


	2. a form and gloves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I had this written for quite some time but wanted to proof read etc. so here it is?

‘Dean, you were supposed to wake up and hour ago! Get up!’ was the first thing Dean heard when his senses awoke.   
‘Dude quit the yelling, I guess my alarm didn’t go off.’ He replied to Sam’s whining.   
Castiel slowly started to wake as well.   
Dean noticed him being startled at waking up like he’d done before sometimes.   
Not yet used to sleeping it confused him at times.   
‘Hey Cass wake up, my grumpy brother wants us to get up.’ Castiel rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and once again stretched out before turning to face both Sam and Dean.   
‘Good morning Sam.’ Was the first thing he said. ‘What time is it Dean?’ he then asked.   
‘It’s only 8:40 but I guess our alarm didn’t go off.’   
Dean saw Castiel’s slight struggle trying to keep up that lie. ‘Oh that is weird, I did not hear it either Dean.’ He then said.  
‘It doesn’t matter just get out of bed now so we can get going soon.’ Sam replied as if they were in a hurry.

Once both Dean and Castiel got out of bed they went into the small Motel room kitchen and got themselves some breakfast that Sam had brought for them.   
‘Do you want some coffee with that Cass?’  
‘Yes Dean I would love some coffee actually, I find it awakens me.’   
‘One Cass coffee coming your way.’   
‘Dean, what is a Cass coffee?’   
‘I dunno man, you always drink it black with a little sugar so I guess that’s your coffee.’ 

Sam heard their little conversation going on in the kitchen. He still noticed how his brother acted weird around Castiel. Way softer and more patient then with regular friends. Maybe due to Castiel’s lack of knowledge on how to be a proper human, maybe because he’s just more fond of Castiel as a friend. He always brushed it off as there were more important things to worry about. And besides that his brother would never admit to being fond of Castiel even when everyone knows he’d take a bullet for him.

‘Okay let’s get dressed the centre opens at 10:00 so we’ll go there first, meanwhile Sammy can take a look around the building, see if there’s anything up with the place.’  
It took them 20 minutes to get fully dressed and ready to go.   
Even though there wasn’t need for it Dean felt himself get a little nervous.   
Not for pretending to be someone he’s not, that he does all the time. Rather hoping they don’t take their ‘relationship’ the wrong way.   
‘Let me just go to the toilet before we leave.’  
‘Geez Dean you almost seem nervous just hurry!’ Sam replied to Deans attempt at stretching time.

‘Okay, okay I’m ready to go let’s go.’ Dean said before walking over to the door and leaving.

Once they arrived at the centre Dean and Castiel went into the main entrance leaving Sam behind.  
The place had a small waiting room with a desk.   
The woman behind the desk was still helping someone so they decided to sit down on the connected chairs.   
Dean got a cheesy magazine from the little white coffee table that matched the chairs and began reading it.   
‘Dean I am slightly concerned over how this conversation will go.’ Castiel said interrupting Deans reading.  
‘Why Cass? You dunno what to say or? Because that will come automatically don’t worry.   
If you want I can do most of the talking.’  
‘Thank you Dean, I was just concerned over not selling the part.’  
‘Hey it’s fine, they won’t suspect a thing. I mean were just to regular guys to them.’ Dean reassured him.  
‘That is true, thank you Dean.’

Then the man the receptionist had been talking to walked out of the room.   
There had been other people but those were either not interested in asking the receptionist a question or worked at the place.   
Dean got up and signed for Castiel to do the same.   
Together they walked up to the reception.  
‘Uh hi? We called you two days ago?’ Dean began.  
‘Oh yes hello, nice to meet you.’ The receptionist said before introducing herself to both of them.  
‘Yes we were interested in the loving forever parties’ Dean then said.  
‘oh right yes, are you new to this town?’  
‘Yes we recently moved here and wanted to get to know people.’ Castiel replied to her.  
‘Oh yes, I remember your voice. We spoke on the phone didn’t we?’ The receptionist said genuinely remembering him.  
‘Yes that would be correct, you told me to come over for registration and more information.’ Castiel went on kind of dryly.   
Dean noticed this and looked over to Castiel and gave him what seemed like a warming smile but was meant to remember Castiel they were supposed to be a normal couple interested in this activity.   
Castiel then added ‘We liked the concept of meeting new couples a lot, which is why we wanted to join.’ This time his voice sounded more excited about the party.   
The receptionist named Amy then went on and on about what happens at the parties and all the good responds to it.   
Even laughed at remembering some stories. Both Dean and Castiel showed interest in her stories.

‘So, would you like to come to our next party? It’s gonna be next week on Tuesday.   
You will need to fill out a little form but they’re just some quick questions.’  
‘Yes, yes your stories convinced us we’d love to join next week.’ Dean said to her whilst giving Castiel a warm smile.   
‘Okay I’ll take you to a little quiet room where you can fill in the form, come with me.’ Amy said whilst grabbing some stapled together papers from one of her desks behind the counter.   
She walked out of the little reception room and guided them to a small room down the hall.   
She opened the door and gave the papers to Castiel.   
‘Take your time and hand it back to me when you’re done!’ Amy said and she shut the door.

‘See Cass, we did it she didn’t suspect a thing.’ Dean said to reassure Castiel that it had gone well.  
‘Yes, I am glad she talked most of the time but I think we sold the part quite well.’   
They sat next to each other on the small plastic chairs and started to fill in the form.   
Most of the questions were easy such as their names, birth dates (Dean made up one for Castiel on the spot.) if they lived together.   
But then there were harder questions. Mostly because they had to make it up.   
How long have you been in this relationship, what do you like doing together, if they’re married. They were harder because none of that actually happened.   
They don’t have a relationship, they’re not married or planning to ever. 

‘We could write down how long we know each other?’ Castiel suggested.  
‘Yeah I guess, that’s like 8 years?’ Dean didn’t really know how long it had been and Castiel’s perception of time was way off due to him being a former immortal being and all.   
‘Okay, what kind of joined hobby would a couple like us have?’ Dean asked.  
‘I do not know of many hobbies Dean, is reading considered a hobby? We do read a lot for research.’   
‘Neh, how would you read together? Sounds kind of like we read to each other.   
We’ll just say it’s wine tasting?’  
‘But Dean, I have never tasted wine and you don’t enjoy it.’ Castiel reminded him.  
‘Geez I dunno Cass. Maybe a sport?’ Dean suggested.  
‘Yes that sounds good, but what sport? Maybe golf?’  
Dean giggled at that. ‘Golf is such a lame sport but yeah, we’ll go for that. Are we married?’  
‘I guess we could be, but we don’t have matching rings.’  
‘Well we’ll just say we’re not into rings.’ Dean replied.   
He weirdly liked the sound of them being married.  
Maybe he didn’t like the sound of it, but in this scenario it sounded better than them not being married. 

After what must have been 15 minutes they finally completed the form.   
They went back to the reception and handed it to Amy.   
‘Thank you guys! You’ll get a call from me soon on whether you were accepted but don’t worry unless there is something really off about the form you’ll get in!’  
They both thanked her and said their goodbyes before leaving the building and walking back to the car that Sam had been waiting in. 

‘And, found anything around here?’ Dean asked whilst getting into the driver’s seat and slamming the door shut.  
‘Besides a dollar someone lost there wasn’t anything special.’ Sam replied facing Dean.   
He felt the radiating warmth coming off of him.   
Then the door behind him opened and another cold wave came in alongside slightly annoyed noises. ‘Hey Cass, you okay?’   
‘Yes Sam I am fine, I just find the cold rather annoying today. I never really noticed it until now despite wearing my new coat.’   
‘Well Cass, the cold is not neutral. There’s days colder than others.   
Today it’s the coldest since you’ve been human so I don’t blame ya.’ Dean told him.  
‘Whilst I was aware of temperature differences it never occurred to me that such small differences could feel like such big differences.   
I should have known fragile parts of the human body such as hands would respond quite quickly to these changes.’ Castiel answered.  
‘If your hands are cold we’ll get you some gloves.’ Dean suggested.  
‘Thank you Dean.’ Was all Castiel said before the car turned silent except for the engine that was running.   
They drove off to the same store they’d bought Castiel’s coat this week. The drive was only a couple of minutes. 

 

‘What about these Cass?’ Dean said whilst almost giggling. He held up a pair of fluorescent pink gloves with a unicorn pattern.   
They were also clearly way too small for Castiel’s hands, which ofcourse Castiel should point out to Dean.  
‘I do not think those will fit me Dean.’  
‘I was just kidding around Cass.’ Dean said giving Castiel a playful push.  
‘Oh I understand now, seeing how they are obviously not fit for me it is sarcasm. That’s funny Dean.’  
All Dean replied with was an understanding soft ‘yeah.’ Whilst continuing his search for suitable gloves for Castiel.   
He was going through a big bin with loads of gloves. Ranging from leather ones to pink ones to thick ones with only a thumb and one area for all the other fingers.   
How could it be so hard to find regular black gloves? Castiel was behind him somewhere wandering around looking at all the other gloves on shelves.  
‘Would these be good Dean?’ Castiel said whilst walking towards Dean with a pair of the plain black gloves Dean was looking for.  
‘Yeah, you wanna see if they fit you?’ Dean said finally giving up his search for gloves.  
Castiel took of the little hanger and put a glove on.   
The glove fit nicely around his hand. He balled his hand into a relaxed fist and stretched it again multiple times before speaking up.  
‘These seem to fit.’ He said whilst showing them more closely to Dean for assurance.   
Dean looked at the glove, then picked at the fabric in some spots seeing if they weren’t too tight.   
‘Hey guys have you found gloves yet? I got the beanie.’ Sam said whilst approaching them.  
‘mhm, these seem to fit him so we’ll get these.’ Dean said still looking at the glove then looking up at Castiel. ‘is the fabric good too? Not too itchy? Does it feel warm?’ He asked Castiel.  
‘I like them yes.’ Castiel replied giving Dean a smile. Dean turned to Sam.  
‘Okay yes we’ll get these then let’s go.’ Castiel took off the glove and got the other one he put down on a bench.   
They all went to the counter next to the glove section they had been. At the counter someone came their way once they noticed they wanted to pay.   
‘good afternoon, could you find everything?’ the man behind the counter said whilst grabbing Sam’s beanie.  
‘Yeah had to get him some gloves for the cold weather.’ Dean said. Just a little small talk.  
‘Yes, it has been really cold especially today. Luckily I work inside all day!’ the man laughed.  
Everyone politely laughed at that.  
‘It will be $33,45 please.’ Sam got his credit card and started paying.   
‘You could always just hold his hand if he loses his gloves again.’ The guy said to Dean with a wink.  
Sam somehow managed to contain his reaction, Dean however played it off less cool.   
‘Hehe yes haha that would work too I suppose.’ Dean stumbled over those words and had a little blush covering his cheeks and neck.   
Meanwhile Castiel responded as if nothing was off about this situation.   
Who can blame him though. He had gotten better at understanding situations but picking up on it this quickly was still hard for him sometimes.   
‘That would warm up my hands however, I don’t know if Dean would agree to such things. Especially since we are always outside when it is necessary.’ This obviously baffled the clerk as it sounded like a topic way more personal than was his business.  
‘I’m sure that if you need it he’ll gladly hold your hands Cass.’ Sam said trying to come over as sincere so this conversation couldn’t get out of hand any further (hand haha).   
Once everything was paid for Dean already walked away and took Castiel with him. Sam waited for his receipt.   
‘Don’t worry about it, they’re complicated.’ He tried to say taking off the slight edge.   
‘I’m sorry I shouldn’t have assumed they were together. They just seemed very close and I spoke before I could think.’ The man said whilst giving Sam the receipt.   
‘Oh it’s okay, have a nice day!’ Sam said before walking off. 

‘Our next stop should be the park, it’s weekend so there must be some people around right now.’ Dean said once everyone closed the car doors.   
The park wasn’t far but taking the car would be easier.  
‘Oh Dean can we get eggnog again once were done? It was really good, and you liked the pie!’ Castiel asked enthusiastically.  
‘Yeah that’s cool Cass, I’m glad you liked the eggnog.’ After Dean’s words the car turned to a comfortable silence.


	3. What am I doing?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They head to the park to interview people but it doesn't lead to much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this isn't proof read so I'm sorry for possible mistakes etc.

Once they were at the park they started chatting with a bunch of the locals. Starting off with some small talk and asking them what they heard about the missing people. Some people replied saying they were worried, some started to gossip as to why they thought the people went missing.

A lot of people seemed to mention that those people had been flirting with someone else despite them being in a relationship.

Some people even claimed that the people they were in a relationship with knew that they weren’t being completely faithful.

 

Slowly the sun started going under as they were talking to this older woman.

‘I only know one of them personally, he was a friend of my son so he came by sometimes. The other I heard of and said hello to a couple of times but I wouldn’t know anything about them.’ The woman said apologetically.

‘Oh, did your son still have contact with his friend before he disappeared?’ Sam asked and he and the lady kept talking on and on about the case. Which should interest Dean, and he should take mental notes. But right now he wasn’t feeling it and got distracted.

He started to absentmindedly look around whilst picking up the general line of conversation.

Then he caught Castiel’s face.

He calmly stared at his features for a while, going over every detail of his face, how his new coat fit him and the way his feet were positioned.

Then Castiel noticed and looked back at him and gave him a kind smile.

Dean returned the smile but kept looking at him. The way his smile turned back into a neutral expression. The way he turned to the woman again and started listening more properly. The way he started to pass as a normal human more and more.

That’s why Dean’s kind smile never faded whilst looking at Castiel before he turned back to the woman.

The woman however picks this up like everyone seems to do in this town.

 

‘Enough about the missing people, what brings you three here?’ she asks.

‘Oh well we’re moving here so we’ve been wandering around getting to know the place.’ Sam answers her.

‘Oh, I thought you two were brothers?’ She seems to get kind of lost on what she assumed their relationship were and what Sam is now saying.

‘Yes, yes me and Dean are brothers and Castiel is my good friend and my brothers partner.’ Sam clears up.

‘Oh okay, it’s just that you don’t hear that very often.’ She replies making sure they know she isn’t judging them for it.

‘Yeah I guess I just couldn’t choose between either of them, so as long as my little brother doesn’t find a girlfriend we’ll be stuck with him’ Dean adds jokingly whilst giving Sam a little push.

 

Suddenly Castiels stomach growls loudly which startles everybody but mostly him. He immediately looks down and but his hands on his tummy with a frown.

‘I guess someone is hungry.’ Dean says whilst looking fond at Castiels reaction.

‘I’m sorry I wasn’t hungry during breakfast so I didn’t eat enough’ Castiel starts to apologize.

‘No don’t be sorry buddy, we’ll go for some pie in a minute.’ Dean immediately says.

‘Yes you should get going then! If you’re moving here I’ll see you around.’ The woman says.

They all say goodbye and go their own ways.

 

‘Well let’s get you some food hungry boyy.’ Dean says which just makes him get a weird look from Sam.

They once again order eggnog and pie, but they have a blueberry pie today and Castiel is very eager to try that one. Sam orders coffee and nothing..

 

‘Dean this pie is very good, would you like to try this one too?’ Castiel asks after taking two bites of the blueberry pie. Dean really wants to try the pie but also remembers last time, which makes him both eager and cautious.

‘Sure I’m always up for blueberry pie’ Is what he ends up saying. And before he has time to decide whether or not he’ll take the bite himself. Castiel has already scooped up a bite and starts going for Deans mouth. Dean takes the bite trying not to make Sam question anything. And luckily it seems to work.

‘Oh I like this one too Cass hmm.’ He says whilst still having half of the bite in his mouth.

That is what sets Sam of, he just looks at his brother with slight disgust.

‘Dean stop talking with your mouth full it’s gross, how many times do I have to tell you.’ He says to this all.

They quickly eat their pie and then chat whilst drinking the eggnog and coffee.

‘So far we still know jack squat about the missing people.’ Dean says.

‘Yes besides the fact that they all were going to the same meetings and probably cheated, maybe we should get some more research done to see what kind of thing they might have attracted.’ Sam says.

‘Why must pie be unhealthy, it contains fruits which are healthy but it’s still dessert.’ Castiel suddenly says.

‘Eehm I must agree with you on that. But you see they add all this sugar to make it sweet and delicious.’ Dean replies

‘I know Dean, but the fruit itself is already sweet I just don’t get it. Why did my father make good food but also make it unhealthy.’ Castiel rambles on.

‘You know we should just go back to our motel.’ Sam says to avoid getting into a pie related discussion where the odds are not in his favor.

 

They head back to the car and ride back to the motel through the snowy streets. There they start their researching on this case.

‘Guys, there was this woman who vanished after she caught her man cheating on her. But she lived a town over. Her spirit might’ve gotten here somehow though.’ Sam says after a long silence.

‘Yeah I saw that headline too but it’s from 2007 and if you go into the site you’ll find a more recent article stating she was found three towns over from here.’ Dean replies whilst still reading whatever is on his screen.

‘Oh.’ Is all Sam replies before continuing his search.

More time passes.

After three hours that seem to last eight hours they give up for the day.

‘Who wants dinner?’ Is what Dean asks when he decides he is done staring at a bright white screen.

Luckily both Sam and Castiel eagerly respond to that.

‘What are we gonna get though?’ He asks after that.

‘I want pie Dean, but that remains a dessert. However something Italian also sounds good. I haven’t eaten it much as a human but even when I was still an angel I tried to assemble the atoms and guess what it tasted like. Tomato, cheese and pasta is such a good combination Dean.’ Is what Castiel replies.

‘Okay if Sammy is okay with that we’ll get some Italian food.’ Dean says.

‘I mean yeah that’s good, let’s see what they got in this town.’ Sam says whilst once again looking at his laptop, but this time to search for food.

 

After they find a nice place and decide what they want they call the restaurant and order.

It takes the food 30 minutes to get to their motel, they pay and once the door closes both Castiel and Dean run off with their bag of food.

‘Cass since when are you such a hungry dude?’ Sam asks him noticing his recent appetite.

‘Hmm I don’t know I think I just don’t like the cold very much so I enjoy eating warm ehm cosy foods. I mean this lasagna already smells amazing and is warm in my hands when I carry the bag.’ Castiel says whilst opening his food container.

‘I never even thought of it like that. But a hot cocoa in the winter is very nice indeed.’ Sam replies only now reaching the couch where both Castiel and Dean have already started eating.

They eat and turn on the TV. Castiel once again asks Dean for a bite of his dinner and also returns the favour. Dean once again tries to make it not obvious that Castiel is feeding him.

‘You guys have a weird bond over food.’ Is all Sam says about it.

‘Hey it’s not weird, just because you only eat food that is hard to eat doesn’t mean all food is tasteless and depressing.’ Dean says offensively.

‘The only difference is that I eat vegetables and you eat them drenched in oils and meat.’ Sams says. They bicker on about this for a while. Like usual.

Once they all finish their food they get more comfortable on the couch.

Castiel gets cold so they find him a blanket and he wraps himself in it. Dean puts his feet on the coffee table in between all the plastic food containers. And Sam puts one leg on the couch resting his other on the floor.

‘Dean, I’m still cold.’ Castiel says after a while.

‘Yeah it is kinda chilly in here isn’t it.’ Dean replies to him, not sure what to do with this information.

‘I dunno guys it’s not that cold in here. They isolated it pretty good for a motel.’ Sam adds.

‘Yeah Cass just isn’t used to the cold. Are ya Cass?’ Dean says in Castiel’s offence.

‘No I have never felt temperature. I now understand why the weather report is so important to humans. Should I just get the blanket from our bed Dean?’ Castiel asks.

Dean doubts for a while but answers ‘nah buddy c’mere.’ He ends up saying whilst opening his arms.

Castiel scoots over to Dean a carefully rests between his open arms. Dean wraps his arm around Castiel’s back. And to make it less weird he gives him a few pats.

Sam decides not to say anything. He doesn’t want his brother feel cautious around him.

They finish watching the episode of that 70’s show that is on. By this time Castiel keeps drifting more into Dean’s embrace. After a while Dean notices that it is because he fell asleep. For a while he just looks at Castiel. It takes him a while to realize he is staring at Castiel.

 

_God, why does he keep doing that. He can’t stop though. This is the second time this day where he needs to just look at him for a while. Just to make sure he’s okay. To see if all his facial features are those of someone well rested. But also to really just take him in. Who he is, where he came from, where he is now, but also what he likes, his quirks, and the small smile he has whilst he is sleeping. But he sees Castiel as a brother. What he has with Castiel is way stronger than a lover. Right?_

‘Hey Dean shall we go to bed? I’m getting tired and Cass seems tired too haha.’ Sam says softly, breaking Dean’s train of thought.

‘Yeah, yeah you go brush your teeth, I’ll try to wake him up.’ Dean replies.

Sam stands up and heads to the bathroom across the room.

‘Hey, buddy. Wake up we gotta get you in a bed.’ Dean tries. All he gets back from Castiel is a soft groan.

‘Ye need me to carry you?’ he tries. Once again he is met with a groan as an answer, but this one sounds more agreeing so he takes it as a yes. Why does he do this to himself. He’s tired and now he has to carry this strong, heavy man. Softly he pushes Castiel aside and stand up. He puts his arms under his knees and torso and tries to lift him up. Luckily Castiel still tries to cooperate. He rather swiftly carries him to the bed that luckily wasn’t made. This way he can easily grab the blanket and put it over Castiel. He then walks over to the bathroom to brush his teeth, knowing there’s no way to get Castiel to join right now.

 

He brushes his teeth and walks back to the room. He puts on his ‘pyama’s’ which is just an old shirt and his boxers. And he slides into the bed next to Castiel. He turns off the light and falls asleep shortly after that.


End file.
